The Houston Astros have one of baseball’s best bullpens, but James McCann didn’t seem to mind as he blasted a game-winning grand slam in the eighth inning of the Chicago White Sox 13-9 win on Wednesday afternoon.
The victory clinched the season series between the two clubs for the White Sox and was their second win in as many days over one of the American League’s best teams.
Eloy Jiménez also homered in the game, smacking his 20th long ball of the season in the victory. Welington Castillo and José Abreu each drove in a pair of runs to help pace Chicago’s offensive explosion.
Michael Brantley collected four hits for the Astros, while infielder Alex Bregman drove in three RBI’s, as did Yuli Gurriel. The big offensive effort wasn’t enough however as the Astros head out of town after losing two-of-three to the South Siders.
It was a rough day for the pitchers on both sides of the field, as Wade Miley lasted just three innings and gave up seven total runs. Ross Detwiler didn’t make it past the fifth inning, giving up four earned runs.
Fortunately for the White Sox, Alex Colomé was able to work an inning and two-thirds of scoreless relief, striking out two Astros and earning his fourth win of the season.
The clubs engaged in a back-and-forth slugfest throughout the game, culminating in a chaotic final four innings. After Gurriel homered to left field to bring the Astros to within two runs in the top of the sixth, Abreu answered with an RBI single in the bottom of the frame to put Chicago ahead by an 8-5 margin.
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Undaunted, the Astros kept pounding away, with Bregman hitting an RBI single in the seventh and Gurriel following suit with an RBI single of his own to make it an 8-7 game. Jiménez went deep in the seventh to put the White Sox in front by two runs, but the Astros tied things up in the eighth inning when Jose Altuve hit a game-tying two-run home run to knot things up at 9-9.
The Astros got two quick outs in the eighth, with Adam Engel and Jon Jay striking out, but the White Sox put together a two-out rally. Tim Anderson singled to right field, moving Yolmer Sánchez to third base, and then Abreu drew a walk to load the bases. With two outs, McCann hit an opposite-field grand slam into the bullpen to put the White Sox up by four runs, and Colomé slammed the door in the ninth.
The White Sox will now hop on a plane to take on the Los Angeles on Thursday night in the City of Angels. First pitch is scheduled for 9:07 p.m.
